Editors' Picks: Seghesio Vineyards

In many ways, Seghesio typifies the tribulations and successes of a family-run winery. With a family history of winemaking going back to 1895, when Edoardo Seghesio planted zinfandel on the home ranch in Sonoma's Alexander Valley, Seghesio has been through it all, from near-ruin to overwhelming success, all the while making great wines.

Until fairly recently, this family winery was known for producing high-volume, entry-level wines. That all changed when, in the mid-1990s, the winery began reducing its yields and overall production, focusing on estate-grown fruit and producing polished, nuanced estate wines. With an eye to detail in the vineyards and talented winemaking in the cellar, each Seghesio wine now stands out as unique and well-made at democratic prices.

In some circles, zinfandel is still thought of as the United States' signature grape varietal, and the Seghesio family is at the head of the class, producing a number of single vineyard, low-yield offerings. Theirs is, in many ways, the truest expression of Sonoma County zinfandel.

The juicy, entry-level Sonoma Zinfandel is a blend of different estate vineyards that over-delivers, with yields generally kept well below four tons per acre. The winery's benchmark Old Vine Zinfandel comes from vines with an average age of more than 80 years - the family standard for Old Vines is a minimum 60 years - with yields kept to less than two tons per acre. This is achieved through a process of aggressive thinning of grape clusters that helps maintain perfect ripeness of the fruit used to make the wines.

Seghesio's stunning single vineyard wines include the Home Ranch Zinfandel, which uses grapes from vines dating back to 1895 in the Alexander Valley, and the 100 percent zin Cortina Zinfandel, which is named for the gravelly soil type in which it is grown. The Rockpile Zinfandel, a wonderfully intense and spicy wine, hails from one of the newest American Viticultural Areas, dominated by steep hillsides and rocky topsoil at elevations of approximately 1,000 feet above sea level.        

Make sure to check out our other editors' picks:

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